104 PCWorld JANUARY 2022HERE’S HOW HOW TO ENCRYPT FILES IN WINDOWS
utility. Whether you want full-drive encryption
or just a secure space to keep your important
records, one of these tools will fit the bill.HOW TO USE BITLOCKER
FOR FULL-DRIVE
ENCRYPTION
Windows 10 or 11 Pro offers two built-in
encryption tools: There is this simple tool
(fave.co/3Fmg6MT), which can be used to
encrypt any file. However, in our testing we
had issues with it, so we recommend using
the other option, Bitlocker. Although
Bitlocker offers full-drive encryption only,
thankfully you can choose between
encrypting the entire drive or just the space
that’s being used. Encrypting an entire drive
does incur a performance penalty, but if it’s
your work laptop and everything you are
working on is on your C:/ drive, it’s a good
option to consider. It’s
also a good option for
external drives, as most of
us have lost a few of those
over the course of our
lives, and lord knows
what we had on them
when we did. Setting up
Bitlocker is relatively
painless, so follow along.
If you just type the
word Bitlocker in
Windows search it’ll
appear, or you can find itin the Control Panel listed as Bitlocker
Management. When you open it, you’ll be
presented with a list of your attached storage
devices, both internal and external. We’re
going to install it on our external drive, F ( 1 ).
After you’ve enabled Bitlocker on the
drive of your choice, Microsoft will ask you
how you want to unlock the drive, either via a
password or with a Smart Card; we chose to
use a password. If you choose a Smart Card
you’ll need a USB drive, which will be paired
with a PIN code to unlock the drive.
Next, Microsoft will ask how you want to
restore the recovery key, which could save your
behind if you ever forget your password or lose
your Smart Card. We chose to have the
recovery key accessible via our Microsoft
Account, as that seems to be the most secure
method of storing it and definitely smarter than
printing it out!1.